Noise control method and device

ABSTRACT

A noise control method and device are provided that relate to the field of noise control. A noise control method includes: acquiring noise information of an ambient environment; generating a noise control message including the noise information, the noise control message being used to notify other devices to adjust a volume; and sending the noise control message to the other devices. Another noise control method includes: receiving, by a device, a noise control message from an external device; judging, according to the noise control message, whether the device is necessary to perform volume adjustment; and adjusting a volume according to a volume adjustment policy if the device is necessary to perform volume adjustment. The noise control method and device in the embodiments of the present application easily and quickly realize control over ambient noise, thereby improving user experience.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of, and claims priority toeach of, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/117,172, filed Aug. 5,2016, and entitled NOISE CONTROL METHOD AND DEVICE, which is a U.S.National Stage filing under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of international patentcooperation treaty (PCT) application No. PCT/CN2014/095276, filed Dec.29, 2014, and entitled “NOISE CONTROL METHOD AND DEVICE”, which claimsthe benefit of priority to Chinese Patent Application No.201410085428.0, filed on Mar. 10, 2014, which applications are herebyincorporated into the present application by reference herein in theirrespective entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to the field of noise controltechnologies, and in particular, to a noise control method and device.

BACKGROUND

Noise pollution is a problem that people often encounter in everydaylife. Generally, sounds that affect people's work, study and rest arecalled noise.

More and more electronic devices, while enriching people's everydaylife, also bring about new noise pollution problems. For example, when auser is having a rest in the bedroom, perhaps other family members arewatching TV in the living room, and at this time, if a sound that the TVset makes is too loud, the sound easily becomes noise, affecting theuser's rest. For another example, when a user is listening to musicthrough an audio system, at this time, the phone rings, and the useranswers the phone and finds that the sound of the audio system is tooloud, affecting the user's normal answering of the phone.

In the foregoing scenarios, the user often manually controls the volumekey of the TV set or the audio system to adjust a volume, and then noiseinterference may be avoided, which has cumbersome steps and poor userexperience.

SUMMARY

An example objective of the present application is to provide a noisecontrol method and device.

In a first example aspect, an embodiment of the present applicationprovides a noise control method, and the method includes:

acquiring noise information of an ambient environment;

generating a noise control message including the noise information, thenoise control message being used to notify other devices to adjust avolume; and

sending the noise control message to the other devices.

In a second example aspect, an embodiment of the present applicationprovides a noise control method, and the method includes:

receiving, by a device, a noise control message from an external device;

judging, according to the noise control message, whether the device isnecessary to perform volume adjustment; and

adjusting a volume according to a volume adjustment policy if the deviceis necessary to perform volume adjustment.

In a third example aspect, an embodiment of the present applicationprovides a noise controlling device, and the controlling deviceincludes:

an acquisition module, configured to acquire noise information of anambient environment;

a message generation module, configured to generate a noise controlmessage including the noise information, the noise control message beingused to notify other devices to adjust a volume; and a message sendingmodule, configured to send the noise control message to the otherdevices.

In a fourth example aspect, an embodiment of the present applicationprovides a noise controlled device, and the controlled device includes:

a receiving module, configured to receive a noise control message froman external device;

a first judgment module, configured to judge, according to the noisecontrol message, whether it is necessary for the controlled device toperform volume adjustment; and

an adjustment module, configured to adjust a volume according to avolume adjustment policy if the controlled device is necessary toperform volume adjustment.

Noise control methods and devices in the embodiments of the presentapplication may easily and quickly realize control over ambient noise,thereby improving user experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example flowchart of a noise control method according to anembodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is an example flowchart of a noise control method in animplementation according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is an example flowchart of a noise control method according to anembodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is an example flowchart of a noise control method in animplementation according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is an example flowchart of a noise control method in animplementation according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is an example flowchart of step S341 b in an implementationaccording to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is an example flowchart of a noise control method in animplementation according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is an example flowchart of step S341 c in an implementationaccording to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is an example flowchart of a noise control method in animplementation according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is an example flowchart of step S340 d in an implementationaccording to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 11 is an example flowchart of a noise control method in animplementation according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anoise controlling device according to an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 13 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anacquisition module in an implementation according to an embodiment ofthe present application;

FIG. 14 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anacquisition module in an implementation according to an embodiment ofthe present application;

FIG. 15 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anoise controlling device in an implementation according to an embodimentof the present application;

FIG. 16 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anoise controlled device according to an embodiment of the presentapplication;

FIG. 17 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anoise controlled device in an implementation according to an embodimentof the present application;

FIG. 18 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of afirst judgment module in an implementation according to an embodiment ofthe present application;

FIG. 19 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of asecond unit in an implementation according to an embodiment of thepresent application;

FIG. 20 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of afirst judgment module in an implementation according to an embodiment ofthe present application;

FIG. 21 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of afirst judgment module in an implementation according to an embodiment ofthe present application;

FIG. 22 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anadjustment module in an implementation according to an embodiment of thepresent application;

FIG. 23 is an example schematic diagram of a modular structure of anoise controlled device in an implementation according to an embodimentof the present application;

FIG. 24 is an example structural diagram of a noise controlling deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present application; and

FIG. 25 is an example structural diagram of a noise controlled deviceaccording to an embodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present application are further described indetail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings andembodiments. The following embodiments are intended to describe thepresent application, but not to limit the scope of the presentapplication.

Those skilled in the art should understand that, in the embodiments ofthe present application, sequence numbers of steps do not mean an orderof execution, and the order of execution of the steps should bedetermined according to functions and internal logic thereof, but shouldnot pose any limitation to the implementation process of theimplementations of the present application.

In addition, the terms such as “first” and “second” in the embodimentsof the present application are merely used to distinguish differentsteps, devices or modules, which neither represent any specifictechnical meaning nor represent a necessary logical order between them.

The term “noise” in the present application refers to sounds that affectpeople's work, study and rest, which has relativity, for example, when auser makes a call, voices, music, whistles and the like around the usermay become noise.

During research, the inventor has found that, before a user enters intoa sound sensitive state, the user may often perform regular operationson a portable electronic device. For example, before going to bed, theuser may adjust the mobile phone to a silent mode. For another example,before answering the phone, the user may press the answer key.Therefore, according to the user's operating habits, the correspondingelectronic device (for example, a mobile phone) may previously know thatthe user will enter into a sound sensitive state, so as to notifysurrounding electronic devices which are making a sound to reduce thevolume in advance, thereby avoiding interference with the user.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a noise control method according to anembodiment of the present application; as shown in FIG. 1, the methodmay be realized in, for example, a noise controlling device, and themethod includes:

S120: acquiring noise information of an ambient environment;

S140: generating a noise control message including the noiseinformation, the noise control message being used to notify otherdevices to adjust a volume; and

S160: sending the noise control message to the other devices.

According to the noise control method in the embodiment of the presentapplication, noise information is acquired from noise in an ambientenvironment, a noise control message including the noise information isgenerated, and the noise control message is automatically sent to otherdevices, so as to notify the other devices to adjust a volume, therebyeasily and quickly realizing control over ambient noise and improvinguser experience.

Functions of the steps S120, S140 and S160 are described below indetail.

In one example implementation, in the step S120, the noise informationincludes: a noise intensity value. The noise intensity value refers toinformation that may reflect intensity of noise in an ambientenvironment, for example, it may be a noise sound pressure level, anoise signal intensity, or the like.

In the present application, the adjusting the volume mainly meansadjusting the volume from high to low; the present application does notdefine the specific adjustment manner, for example, the adjustment maybe made by performing filtering on an output end, and the adjustment mayalso be made by modifying a volume value in an audio signal.

In an example implementation, the other devices that receive the noisecontrol message may reduce their volume upon receipt of the noisecontrol message, for example, each device reduces the volume by 10 dBeach time. The implementation is mainly applicable to a situation wherethere are a small number of the other devices, for example, in theuser's home, in addition to the mobile phone, only a TV set may producenoise impacts on the user. Through presetting, the TV set mayautomatically reduce the volume by 10 dB each time it receives the noisecontrol message sent by the mobile phone. The reducing the volume in thepresent application includes reducing the volume to 0 dB, that is, thedevices are shut down or muted.

In an example implementation, the other devices may be a plurality ofseparate sounding devices, and in the step S160, preferably, the noisecontrol message is sent to the other devices through broadcasting. Inthis case, because the current volume of respective sounding devices anddistances from the sounding devices to a sender of the noise controlmessage are not completely the same, noise impacts caused by somesounding devices are great, while noise impacts caused by some soundingdevices are small, it is not reasonable to let all sounding deviceslower the volume by the same level, for example, some sounding deviceshave low volume and small noise impacts, and they may be muted after thevolume is lowered, affecting normal use of other users. In this case, ifcorresponding information is transmitted to the other devices throughthe noise control message, the other devices may decide how much thevolume is lowered according to their own situations, thereby furtherimproving the user experience.

In an example implementation, the noise control message may include: thenoise intensity value, and a transmit power value of the noise controlmessage.

In an example implementation, the noise control message may include: thenoise intensity value, and position information of a sender of the noisecontrol message.

In an example implementation, the noise control message may include: thenoise intensity value, noise sampling information and a correspondingsampling time. The noise sampling information and the sampling time maybe acquired during acquisition of the noise information, that is to say,the noise information acquired from the noise of the ambient environmentincludes the noise sampling information and the sampling time. The noisesampling information may be an original noise sampling fragment or aprocessed noise sampling feature.

How the other devices use information included in the noise controlmessage to adjust a volume will be described hereinafter, which is notrepeated herein.

The noise information in the present application may be noiseinformation corresponding to all collected sound frequencies. Inaddition, in another example implementation, the noise information mayalso be noise information of some specific sound frequency intervals,that is, noise information of at least one sound frequency interval. Theimplementation is mainly applicable to a situation where the user isrelatively sensitive to noise in a specific sound frequency interval,for example, when the user is thinking, in terms of voices of characterdialogues from a TV set and music from an audio system, the user may bemore sensitive to the voices of dialogues. Therefore, the mobile phoneof the user may acquire noise information of a sound frequency interval(for example, 300 HZ to 3400 HZ) corresponding to the voices ofcharacter dialogues from the noise of the ambient environment accordingto the user's habits, and then the steps S140 and S160 are executed.

In addition, in another example implementation, the sound frequencyinterval may be set by the user; as shown in FIG. 2, the method mayfurther include:

S110: setting at least one sound frequency interval according to userinput.

In addition, the embodiments of the present application also provide acomputer readable medium, comprising computer readable instructionswhich perform the following operations when being executed: executingthe operations of steps S120, S140 and S160 of the method in the exampleimplementation shown in FIG. 1.

To sum up, according to the noise control method in the exampleimplementation, the noise control message may be automatically sent toother devices after acquisition of noise information of an ambientenvironment, and corresponding information may be transmitted throughthe noise control message, so that the other devices make out a volumeadjustment policy according to their own situations, thereby simplifyingnoise control steps and improving user experience.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a noise control method according to anotherembodiment of the present application; the method may be realized in,for example, a noise controlled device, as shown in FIG. 3, and themethod includes:

S320: receiving, by a device, a noise control message from an externaldevice; S340: judging, according to the noise control message, whetherthe device is necessary to perform volume adjustment; and

S360: adjusting a volume according to a volume adjustment policy if thedevice is necessary to perform volume adjustment.

The external device is maybe a mobile phone.

According to the method in this embodiment, a noise control message sentby an external device is received, whether it is necessary to performvolume adjustment is judged according to the noise control message, anda volume is adjusted according to a volume adjustment policy if it isnecessary to perform volume adjustment, so that the volume may beadjusted automatically according to a request from the external device,thereby reducing noise output, simplifying noise control steps, andimproving user experience.

Functions of the steps S320, S340 and S360 are described below indetail.

In an example implementation, in the step S320, the noise controlmessage sent by the external device may be received wirelessly, so as tobe convenient for the user to move the external device.

In an example implementation, the noise control message includes: anoise intensity value. Moreover, referring to FIG. 4, the step S340includes:

S340 a: judging whether the noise intensity value is greater than apredetermined threshold, and if yes, judging that the device isnecessary to perform volume adjustment.

The predetermined threshold reflects the user's tolerability for thenoise, for example, if the user hopes that the surrounding noise is lessthan or equal to 10 dB, the predetermined threshold may be set to 10 dB.The predetermined threshold may be set by the user during use, or may beset by a device manufacturer before delivery.

In an example implementation, the noise control message includes: anoise intensity value, and a transmit power value of the noise controlmessage. Moreover, referring to FIG. 5, the step S340 includes:

S340 b: judging, according to the noise intensity value, the transmitpower value, a current volume, and a received signal intensity of thenoise control message, whether it is necessary to perform volumeadjustment.

In the present application, the current volume is the volume beforevolume adjustment.

Specifically, in an example implementation, referring to FIG. 6, thestep S340 b may include:

S341 b: obtaining a wireless signal attenuation value according to thetransmit power value and the received signal intensity;

S342 b: obtaining a first sub-noise intensity value in the noiseintensity value according to the wireless signal attenuation value andthe current volume;

S343 b: obtaining a second sub-noise intensity value according to thenoise intensity value and the first sub-noise intensity value; and

S344 b: judging, according to the first sub-noise intensity value andthe second sub-noise intensity value, whether it is necessary to performvolume adjustment.

In an example implementation, the step S342 b may include:

S3421 b: determining an intermediate parameter according to the wirelesssignal attenuation value, where the intermediate parameter may be aparameter capable of associating the wireless signal attenuation valueand a sound signal attenuation value, for example, the intermediateparameter may be a distance; and

S3422 b: obtaining the first sub-noise intensity value in the noiseintensity value according to the intermediate parameter and the currentvolume.

In an example implementation, the step S344 b may include: if the firstsub-noise intensity value is greater than the second sub-noise intensityvalue, judging that the device is necessary to perform volumeadjustment.

In the present application, the noise intensity value may include: anoise sound pressure level or a noise signal intensity, which reflectsinformation of intensity of noise at the sender of the noise controlmessage. The first sub-noise intensity value reflects a contributionvalue of a sound output by a current noise source (that is, a currentsounding device) for the noise intensity value; the second sub-noiseintensity value reflects a contribution value of a sound output byanother noise source (that is, another sounding device) for the noiseintensity value. Correspondingly, when the noise intensity value is thenoise sound pressure level, the first sub-noise intensity value is afirst sub-noise sound pressure level, and the second sub-noise intensityvalue is a second sub-noise sound pressure level; when the noiseintensity value is the noise signal intensity, the first sub-noiseintensity value is a first sub-noise signal intensity, and the secondsub-noise intensity value is a second sub-noise signal intensity. Forthe sake of simplicity, the following description is given merely byillustrating the situation where the noise intensity value is the noisesound pressure level.

Suppose that the transmit power value of the noise control message isLt, the received signal intensity of the noise control message is Lr,the current volume is Lc, the noise sound pressure level is Lp₀, and thepredetermined threshold is Lp.

The wireless signal attenuation value Ld₁ may be obtained according tothe step S3411 a:

Ld ₁ =Lt−Lr.

For the sake of simplicity, it is considered that attenuation of awireless signal is merely related to a propagation distance of thesignal, and suppose that the propagation distance of the signal and anattenuation value of the wireless signal have a first functionrelationship therebetween, a distance D between the device and thesender of the noise control message may be obtained according to thestep S34121 a:

D=f ₁(Ld ₁);

where f₁ denotes the first function relationship.

For the sake of simplicity, it is considered that attenuation of a soundis merely related to a propagation distance of the sound, and supposethat an attenuation value of the sound and the propagation distancethereof have a second function relationship therebetween, an attenuationvalue Ld₂ of the sound after passing through the distance may beobtained according to the step S34122 a:

Ld ₂ =f ₂(D);

where f₂ denotes the second function relationship.

Further, according to the current volume, the first sub-noise soundpressure level Lp₁ may be obtained:

Lp ₁ =Lc−Ld ₂,

in the step S3413 a, suppose that the second sub-noise sound pressurelevel is Lp₂, there is a formula according to sound intensitysuperposition:

${{Lp}_{0} = {10 \times 1{g\left( {10^{\frac{{Lp}_{1}}{10}} + 10^{\frac{{Lp}_{2}}{10}}} \right)}}};$

Lp₂ may be obtained through calculation according to the formula.

Whether it is necessary to perform volume adjustment may be judged bycomparing Lp₁ and Lp₂.

In an example implementation, the noise control message includes: anoise intensity value, and position information. The positioninformation is position information of the sender of the noise controlmessage. Moreover, referring to FIG. 7, the step S340 includes:

S340 c: judging, according to the noise intensity value, the positioninformation and current volume, whether the device is necessary toperform volume adjustment.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 8, in an example implementation, thestep S340 c may include:

S341 c: determining a distance according to the position information;

S342 c: obtaining the first sub-noise intensity value in the noiseintensity value according to the distance and the current volume;

S343 c: obtaining a second sub-noise intensity value according to thenoise intensity value and the first sub-noise intensity value; and

S344 c: judging, according to the first sub-noise intensity value andthe second sub-noise intensity value, whether the device is necessary toperform volume adjustment.

In the step S341 c, the distance is a distance from a current soundingsource to the sender of the noise control message. The current soundingsource may acquire its own position information through indoorpositioning or other technologies, and a distance from the currentsounding source to the sender of the noise control message may beobtained in combination with position information of the sender of thenoise control message.

The example implementation process of the steps S342 c-S344 c is similarto that of the steps S342 b, S343 b and S344 b in the previous exampleimplementation, which is not repeated herein.

In an example implementation, the noise control message includes: anoise intensity value, noise sampling information and a correspondingsampling time. Moreover, referring to FIG. 9, the step S340 includes:

S340 d: judging, according to the noise intensity value, the noisesampling information, the sampling time and a current volume, whetherthe device is necessary to perform volume adjustment.

Specifically, in an example implementation, referring to FIG. 10, thestep S340 d may include:

S341 d: matching the noise sampling information with a sound outputrecord of the device, to determine a sounding time of the noise samplinginformation;

S342 d: determining a distance according to a time difference betweenthe sampling time and the sounding time;

S343 d: obtaining a first sub-noise intensity value in the noiseintensity value according to the distance and the current volume;

S344 d: obtaining a second sub-noise intensity value according to thenoise intensity value and the first sub-noise intensity value; and

S345 d: judging, according to the first sub-noise intensity value andthe second sub-noise intensity value, whether the device is necessary toperform volume adjustment.

In the step S341 d, the noise sampling information may be a recording ofambient noise, that is, a noise sampling fragment, and may also be anoise sampling feature (such as a spectral feature) obtained throughextraction after processing on the noise sampling fragment. For the sakeof simplicity, the following description about the step S341 d is merelybased on the situation where the noise sampling information is a noisesampling fragment (when the noise sampling information is a noisesampling feature, the following steps a and b may be omitted duringprocessing on the noise sampling information).

In an example implementation, the step S341 d may include:

a) dividing an audio signal to be processed into a plurality of frames;

b) extracting features of audio signals of each frame, the featuresinclude, but are not limited to, Fourier coefficients, Mel-frequencyCepstral Coefficients (MFCCs), spectral flatness, spectral sharpness,Linear Predictive Coding coefficients and the like;

c) compressing the extracted features by using a classificationalgorithm, to form a sub-fingerprint corresponding to each frame;

d) taking the noise sampling information as the audio signal to beprocessed to execute the steps a-c, to obtain a plurality ofsub-fingerprints corresponding to the noise sampling information, theplurality of sub-fingerprints forming a fingerprint block; and taking asound output of the device as the audio signal to be processed toexecute the steps a-c, to obtain a plurality of sub-fingerprintscorresponding to the sound output, the plurality of sub-fingerprintsforming a fingerprint stream; and

e) comparing similarity between different parts of the fingerprint blockand the fingerprint stream, so as to judge whether they match eachother; when the similarity is greater than a predetermined value, it maybe considered that they match each other, and a sounding time of thenoise sampling information may be obtained in the case that they matcheach other.

Reference may be made to Jaap Haitsma and Antonius Kalker et al.'s Paper“A Highly Robust Audio Fingerprinting System”, International Symposiumon Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR) 2002, pp. 107-115, for exampleimplementation of the steps a-e. This is not the focus of the presentapplication, and is not repeated herein.

In the step S342 d, the distance is a distance from a current soundingsource to the sender of the noise control message. A time difference maybe obtained according to the sampling time and the sounding time, andthen a distance from the current sounding source to the sender of thenoise control message may be obtained in combination with a propagationspeed of the sound in the air.

The example implementation process of the steps S343 d-S345 d is similarto that of the steps S342 c-S344 c in the previous exampleimplementation, which is not repeated herein.

In the example implementation, after the first sub-noise intensity valueand the second sub-noise intensity value are determined, the adjusting avolume according to a volume adjustment policy may include:

361: determining a target volume according to the first sub-noiseintensity value, the second sub-noise intensity value, the currentvolume and a predetermined threshold; and

362: adjusting the volume according to the target volume.

The predetermined threshold reflects the user's tolerability for thenoise, and may be preset by the user or a manufacturer.

In the step 361, first suppose that other noise sources may not adjustthe volume and also suppose that the first sub-noise sound pressurelevel after adjustment of the volume is Lp₁′, according to thepredetermined threshold Lp and the second sub-noise sound pressure levelLp₂, there is a formula according to sound intensity superposition:

${{Lp} = {10 \times 1{g\left( {10^{\frac{{Lp}_{1}^{\prime}}{10}} + 10^{\frac{{Lp}_{2}}{10}}} \right)}}};$

Lp₁′ may be obtained through calculation according to the formula.

Further, the target volume La may be obtained according to the currentvolume Lc and the first sub-noise sound pressure levels Lp₁ and Lp₁′before and after adjustment of the volume:

La=Lc−(Lp ₁ −Lp ₁′).

Those skilled in the art should understand that, in the step 361, indetermination of the target volume, it may also be assumed that theother noise sources may adjust the volume, for example, it may beassumed that the second sub-noise sound pressure level of the othernoise sources after adjustment is Lp₂*=Lp₂×50%.

In an example implementation, the adjusting a volume according to avolume adjustment policy may include:

adjusting the volume according to a step length.

In order to better implement the method in the example implementation,the method in the example implementation may be executed cyclically,that is, each time the noise control message is received, adjustment ofthe volume is executed once, until the noise control message is nolonger received. The step length may be a fixed value, and may also be anon-fixed value. The step length may be set with reference to thecurrent volume, for example, when the current volume is great, a largestep length is set, and when the current volume is small, a small steplength is set.

For example, when the noise control message is received for the firsttime, the current volume is 80 dB, the step length is determined to be−20 dB, and the adjusted volume is 60 dB; when the noise control messageis received for the second time, the current volume is 60 dB, the steplength is determined to be −8 dB, and the adjusted volume is 52 dB; whenthe noise control message is received for the third time, the currentvolume is 52 dB, the step length is determined to be −5 dB, and theadjusted volume is 47 dB.

In an example implementation, the adjusting a volume according to avolume adjustment policy may include:

controlling the volume to be within a volume interval.

In the example implementation, reference may be made to a predeterminedproportion of the current volume for determination of the volumeinterval, for example, an upper limit of the volume interval may be setto be 50% of the current volume, a lower limit is set to 0, and supposethat the current volume is 80 dB, the determined volume interval is [40,0].

According to the method in the example implementation, merely outputvolume of an audio signal beyond a volume interval may be adjusted, soas to avoid the situation where the output volume of a part with asmaller volume value in the audio signal is 0 after adjustment to resultin that other uses cannot hear totally.

In consideration of demands for saving energy, the method does not needto be executed all the time after a device has been turned on, but onlyneeds to be executed when the device is in a sounding state. Therefore,referring to FIG. 11, in another example implementation of the presentapplication, the method further includes:

S310: judging whether the device itself is making a sound, and if thedevice is making a sound, performing the step of receiving a noisecontrol message from the external.

In addition, the embodiments of the present application also provide acomputer readable medium, comprising computer readable instructionswhich perform the following operations when being executed: executingthe operations of steps S320, S340 and S360 of the method in the exampleimplementation shown in FIG. 3.

To sum up, according to the noise control method in this embodiment,after a noise control message is received, whether it is necessary toperform volume adjustment may be judged according to related informationin the message, and when it is necessary to perform volume adjustment,corresponding volume adjustment may be performed according to a targetvolume, a step length or a volume interval, so as to easily and quicklyrealize control over ambient noise, thereby improving user experience.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of a modular structure of a noisecontrolling device according to an embodiment of the presentapplication. The noise controlling device may generally be a devicecarried by a user, for example, a smart phone, a smart watch, smartglasses, a smart ring or other devices. The devices are carried by theuser, noise information acquired by the devices is closer to noise thatthe user feels with ears.

As shown in FIG. 12, the controlling device 1200 includes:

an acquisition module 1210, configured to acquire noise information ofan ambient environment;

a message generation module 1220, configured to generate a noise controlmessage including the noise information, the noise control message beingused to notify other devices to adjust a volume; and a message sendingmodule 1230, configured to send the noise control message to the otherdevices.

Referring to FIG. 13, in an example implementation, the noiseinformation includes: a noise intensity value. The noise intensity valuerefers to information that may reflect intensity of noise in an ambientenvironment, for example, it may be a noise sound pressure level, anoise signal intensity or the like. In the example implementation, theacquisition module 1210 includes:

-   -   a first acquisition unit 1211, configured to acquire a noise        intensity value of the ambient environment.

In an example implementation, the noise control message may include: thenoise intensity value, and a transmit power value of the noise controlmessage.

In an example implementation, the noise control message may include: thenoise intensity value, and position information of a sender of the noisecontrol message.

In an example implementation, the noise control message may include: thenoise intensity value, noise sampling information and a correspondingsampling time. The noise sampling information and the sampling time maybe acquired during acquisition of the noise information, that is to say,the noise information acquired from the noise of the ambient environmentincludes the noise sampling information and the sampling time. Referringto FIG. 14, in the example implementation, the acquisition module 1210may further include:

a second acquisition unit 1212, configured to acquire noise samplinginformation and a corresponding sampling time from noise of the ambientenvironment.

The noise information in the present application may be noiseinformation corresponding to all collected sound frequencies. Inaddition, in another example implementation, the noise information mayalso be noise information of some specific sound frequency intervals,that is, noise information of at least one sound frequency interval.Referring to FIG. 15, in the example implementation, the controllingdevice 1200 may further include:

a setting module 1240, configured to set at least one sound frequencyinterval according to user input, the noise information being noiseinformation of at least one sound frequency interval.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a modular structure of a noisecontrolled device according to an embodiment of the present application;the noise controlled device may be, for example, a TV set, an audiodevice, a game console, a personal computer, a mobile phone or otherdevices that may make a loud sound.

Referring to FIG. 16, the controlled device 1600 may include:

a receiving module 1610, configured to receive a noise control messagefrom the external;

a first judgment module 1620, configured to judge, according to thenoise control message, whether it is necessary for the controlled deviceto perform volume adjustment; and

an adjustment module 1630, configured to adjust a volume according to avolume adjustment policy if it is necessary to perform volumeadjustment.

Referring to FIG. 17, in an example implementation, the controlleddevice 1600 further includes:

a message processing module 1640, configured to extract a noiseintensity value from the noise control message.

Correspondingly, the first judgment module 1620 is configured to judgewhether the noise intensity value is greater than a predeterminedthreshold, and if yes, judge that the device is necessary to performvolume adjustment.

The predetermined threshold reflects the user's tolerability for thenoise, for example, if the user hopes that the surrounding noise is lessthan or equal to 10 dB, the predetermined threshold may be set to 10 dB.The predetermined threshold may be set by the user during use, or may beset by a device manufacturer before delivery.

In an example implementation, the message processing module 1640 isconfigured to extract the noise intensity value and a transmit powervalue of the noise control message from the noise control message.

Corresponding, the first judgment module 1620 is configured to judge,according to the noise intensity value, the transmit power value, acurrent volume, and a received signal intensity of the noise controlmessage, whether it is necessary to perform volume adjustment. In thepresent application, the current volume is the volume before volumeadjustment.

Referring to FIG. 18, in the example implementation, the first judgmentmodule 1620 may include:

a first unit 1621 a, configured to obtain a wireless signal attenuationvalue according to the transmit power value and the received signalintensity;

a second unit 1622 a, configured to obtain a first sub-noise intensityvalue in the noise intensity value according to the wireless signalattenuation value and the current volume;

a third unit 1623 a, configured to obtain a second sub-noise intensityvalue according to the noise intensity value and the first sub-noiseintensity value; and

a fourth unit 1624 a, configured to judge, according to the firstsub-noise intensity value and the second sub-noise intensity value,whether it is necessary to perform volume adjustment.

Referring to FIG. 19, the second unit 1622 a may include:

an intermediate parameter determination sub-unit 16221 a, configured todetermine an intermediate parameter according to the wireless signalattenuation value; and

a first sub-noise intensity value sub-unit 16222 a, configured to obtainthe first sub-noise intensity value in the noise intensity valueaccording to the intermediate parameter and the current volume.

In an example implementation, the fourth unit 1624 a is configured tojudge that the device is necessary to perform volume adjustment if thefirst sub-noise intensity value is greater than the second sub-noiseintensity value.

In an example implementation, the message processing module 1640 isconfigured to extract position information and the noise intensity valuefrom the noise control message. The position information is positioninformation of the sender of the noise control message.

Correspondingly, the first judgment module 1620 is configured to judge,according to the noise intensity value, the position information and acurrent volume, whether the device is necessary to perform volumeadjustment.

Referring to FIG. 20, in the example implementation, the first judgmentmodule 1620 may include:

a first unit 1621 b, configured to determine a distance according to theposition information;

a second unit 1622 b, configured to obtain a first sub-noise intensityvalue in the noise intensity value according to the distance and thecurrent volume;

a third unit 1623 b, configured to obtain a second sub-noise intensityvalue according to the noise intensity value and the first sub-noiseintensity value; and

a fourth unit 1624 b, configured to judge, according to the firstsub-noise intensity value and the second sub-noise intensity value,whether the device is necessary to perform volume adjustment.

In an example implementation, the message processing module 1640 isconfigured to extract the noise intensity value, noise samplinginformation and a corresponding sampling time from the noise controlmessage.

Correspondingly, the first judgment module 1620 is configured to judge,according to the noise intensity value, the noise sampling information,the sampling time and a current volume, whether the device is necessaryto perform volume adjustment.

Referring to FIG. 21, in the example implementation, the first judgmentmodule 1620 includes:

a first unit 1621 c, configured to match the noise sampling informationwith a sound output record of the device, to determine a sounding timeof the noise sampling information;

a second unit 1622 c, configured to determine a distance according to atime difference between the sampling time and the sounding time;

a third unit 1623 c, configured to obtain a first sub-noise intensityvalue in the noise intensity value according to the distance and thecurrent volume;

a fourth unit 1624 c, configured to obtain a second sub-noise intensityvalue according to the noise intensity value and the first sub-noiseintensity value; and

a fifth unit 1625 c, configured to judge, according to the firstsub-noise intensity value and the second sub-noise intensity value,whether the device is necessary to perform volume adjustment.

Referring to FIG. 22, in an example implementation, after the firstsub-noise intensity value and the second sub-noise intensity value aredetermined, the adjustment module 1630 may include:

a target volume determination sub-module 1631, configured to determine atarget volume according to the first sub-noise intensity value, thesecond sub-noise intensity value, the current volume and a predeterminedthreshold; and

an adjustment sub-module 1632, configured to adjust the volume accordingto the target volume.

In an example implementation, the adjustment module 1630 is configuredto adjust the volume according to a step length.

In an example implementation, the adjustment module 1630 is configuredto control the volume to be within a volume interval.

In consideration of demands for saving energy, the device does not needto operate all the time after the device has been turned on, but onlyneeds to operate when the device is in a sounding state. Referring toFIG. 23, in another example implementation, the controlled device 1600may further include:

a second judgment module 1640, configured to judge whether the device ismaking a sound, and if it is making a sound, enable the receiving module1610.

The structure of the noise controlling device according to an embodimentof the present application is as shown in FIG. 24. The specificembodiment of the present application does not limit specificimplementation of the noise controlling device; referring to FIG. 24,the noise controlling device 2400 may include:

a processor 2410, a communications interface 2420, a memory 2430, and acommunications bus 2440.

The processor 2410, the communications interface 2420, and the memory2430 complete mutual communications via the communications bus 2440.

The communications interface 2420 is configured to communicate withanother network element.

The processor 2410 is configured to execute a program 2432, and mayspecifically implement relevant steps in the process embodiment shown inFIG. 1 or 2.

Specifically, the program 2432 may include a program code, the programcode including a computer operation instruction.

The processor 2410 may be a central processing unit (CPU), or anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or be configured to beone or more integrated circuits which implement the embodiments of thepresent application.

The memory 2430 is configured to store the program 2432. The memory 2430may include a high-speed RAM memory, and may also include a non-volatilememory, for example, at least one magnetic disk memory. The program 2432may specifically execute the following steps:

acquiring noise information of an ambient environment;

generating a noise control message including the noise information, thenoise control message being used to notify other devices to adjust avolume; and

sending the noise control message to the other devices.

Reference may be made to the corresponding steps or modules in theforegoing embodiments for specific implementation of each step in theprogram 2432, which is not repeated herein. Those skilled in the art mayclearly understand that, reference may be made to the correspondingdescription in the foregoing process embodiments for the particularworking procedures of the devices and modules described above, and willnot be repeated herein in order to make the description convenient andconcise.

The structure of a noise controlled device according to an embodiment ofthe present application is as shown in FIG. 25. The specific embodimentof the present application does not limit specific realization of thenoise controlled device; referring to FIG. 25, the noise controlleddevice 2500 may include:

a processor 2510, a communications interface 2520, a memory 2530, and acommunications bus 2540.

The processor 2510, the communications interface 2520, and the memory2530 complete mutual communications via the communications bus 2540.

The communications interface 2520 is configured to communicate withanother network element.

The processor 2510 is configured to execute a program 2532, and mayspecifically implement relevant steps in the process embodiments shownin FIG. 3 to FIG. 11.

Specifically, the program 2532 may include a program code, the programcode including a computer operation instruction.

The processor 2510 may be a central processing unit (CPU), or anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or be configured to beone or more integrated circuits which implement the embodiments of thepresent application.

The memory 2530 is configured to store the program 2532. The memory 2530may include a high-speed RAM memory, and may also include a non-volatilememory, for example, at least one magnetic disk memory. The program 2532may specifically execute the following steps:

receiving, by the device, a noise control message from an externaldevice;

judging, according to the noise control message, whether the device isnecessary to perform volume adjustment; and

adjusting the volume according to a volume adjustment policy if thedevice is necessary to perform volume adjustment.

Reference may be made to the corresponding steps or modules in theforegoing embodiments for specific realization of each step in theprogram 2532, which is not repeated herein. Those skilled in the art mayclearly understand that, reference may be made to the correspondingdescription in the foregoing process embodiments for the particularworking procedures of the devices and modules described above, and willnot be repeated herein in order to make the description convenient andconcise.

It may be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that eachexemplary unit and method step described with reference to theembodiments disclosed herein may be implemented by electronic hardwareor a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whetherthese functions are executed in a hardware mode or a software modedepends on particular applications and design constraint conditions ofthe technical solution. The professional technicians may use differentmethods to implement the functions described with respect to eachparticular application, but such implementation should not be consideredto go beyond the scope of the present application.

If the functions are implemented in the form of a software functionalunit and is sold or used as an independent product, it may be stored ina computer-readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, thetechnical solution of the present application essentially or the partwhich contributes to the prior art or a part of the technical solutionmay be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computersoftware product is stored in a storage medium, and includes severalinstructions for enabling a computer device (which may be a personalcomputer, a controller, a network device, or the like) to execute all orsome steps of the method described in each embodiment of the presentapplication. The foregoing storage medium includes various media whichmay store a program code, such as a USB disk, a mobile hard disk, aread-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk,an optical disc, or the like.

The above embodiments are merely used to describe the presentapplication, instead of limiting the present application; variousalterations and variants may be made by those of ordinary skill in theart without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentapplication, so all equivalent technical solutions also belong to thescope of the present application, and the scope of patent protection ofthe present application should be defined by claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A noise control method, wherein the methodcomprises: receiving, by a device, a noise control message from anexternal device; judging, according to the noise control message,whether the device is necessary to perform volume adjustment; andadjusting the volume according to a volume adjustment policy if thedevice is necessary to perform volume adjustment.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: judgingwhether the device is making a sound, and if the device is making asound, performing the step of receiving a noise control message from anexternal device.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the noisecontrol message comprises: a noise intensity value.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 3, wherein the judging, according to the noisecontrol message, whether the device is necessary to perform volumeadjustment comprises: judging whether the noise intensity value isgreater than a predetermined threshold, and if yes, judging that thedevice is necessary to perform volume adjustment.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 3, wherein the noise control message furthercomprises: a transmit power value of the noise control message.
 6. Themethod according to claim 5, wherein the judging, according to the noisecontrol message, whether the device is necessary to perform volumeadjustment comprises: judging, according to the noise intensity value,the transmit power value, a current volume, and a received signalintensity of the noise control message, whether the device is necessaryto perform volume adjustment.
 7. The method according to claim 6,wherein the judging, according to the noise intensity value, thetransmit power value, a current volume, and a received signal intensityof the noise control message, whether it is necessary to perform volumeadjustment comprises: obtaining a wireless signal attenuation valueaccording to the transmit power value and the received signal intensity;obtaining a first sub-noise intensity value in the noise intensity valueaccording to the wireless signal attenuation value and the currentvolume; obtaining a second sub-noise intensity value according to thenoise intensity value and the first sub-noise intensity value; andjudging, according to the first sub-noise intensity value and the secondsub-noise intensity value, whether it is necessary to perform volumeadjustment.
 8. The method according to claim 3, wherein the noisecontrol message further comprises: noise sampling information and acorresponding sampling time.
 9. The method according to claim 8, whereinthe judging, according to the noise control message, whether the deviceis necessary to perform volume adjustment comprises: judging, accordingto the noise intensity value, the noise sampling information, thesampling time and a current volume, whether the device is necessary toperform volume adjustment.
 10. The method according to claim 9, whereinthe judging, according to the noise intensity value, the noise samplinginformation, the sampling time and a current volume, whether the deviceis necessary to perform volume adjustment comprises: matching the noisesampling information with a sound output record of the device, todetermine a sounding time of the noise sampling information; determininga distance according to a time difference between the sampling time andthe sounding time; obtaining a first sub-noise intensity value in thenoise intensity value according to the distance and the current volume;obtaining a second sub-noise intensity value according to the noiseintensity value and the first sub-noise intensity value; and judging,according to the first sub-noise intensity value and the secondsub-noise intensity value, whether the device is necessary to performvolume adjustment.
 11. The method according to claim 3, wherein thenoise control message further comprises: position information.
 12. Themethod according to claim 11, wherein the judging, according to thenoise control message, whether the device is necessary to perform volumeadjustment comprises: judging, according to the noise intensity value,the position information and a current volume, whether the device isnecessary to perform volume adjustment.
 13. The method according toclaim 12, wherein the judging, according to the noise intensity value,the position information and a current volume, whether the device isnecessary to perform volume adjustment comprises: determining a distanceaccording to the position information; obtaining a first sub-noiseintensity value in the noise intensity value according to the distanceand the current volume; obtaining a second sub-noise intensity valueaccording to the noise intensity value and the first sub-noise intensityvalue; and judging, according to the first sub-noise intensity value andthe second sub-noise intensity value, whether the device is necessary toperform volume adjustment.
 14. The method according to claim 7, whereinthe judging, according to the first sub-noise intensity value and thesecond sub-noise intensity value, whether the device is necessary toperform volume adjustment comprises: judging that the device isnecessary to perform volume adjustment if the first sub-noise intensityvalue is greater than the second sub-noise intensity value.
 15. Themethod according to claim 7, wherein the adjusting the volume accordingto a volume adjustment policy comprises: determining a target volumeaccording to the first sub-noise intensity value, the second sub-noiseintensity value, the current volume and a predetermined threshold; andadjusting the volume according to the target volume.
 16. The methodaccording to claim 3, wherein the noise intensity value comprises: anoise sound pressure level or a noise signal intensity.
 17. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the adjusting the volume according to avolume adjustment policy comprises: adjusting the volume according to astep length.
 18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the adjustingthe volume according to a volume adjustment policy comprises:controlling the volume to be within a volume interval.
 19. A device,comprising: a processor, coupled to a memory, that executes orfacilitates execution of executable modules, the executable modulescomprising: a receiving module configured to receive a noise controlmessage from an external device; a first determination module configuredto determine, according to the noise control message, whether the deviceis to perform volume adjustment; and an adjustment module configured toadjust a volume according to a volume adjustment policy in response todetermining the device is to perform the volume adjustment.
 20. Thedevice according to claim 19, wherein the executable modules furthercomprise: a second determination module configured to determine whetherthe device is making a sound, and in response to the device beingdetermined to be making a sound, enable the receiving module.
 21. Thedevice according to claim 19, wherein the executable modules furthercomprises: a message processing module configured to extract a noiseintensity value from the noise control message.
 22. The device accordingto claim 21, wherein the first determination module comprises: a firstdetermination sub-module configured to determine whether the noiseintensity value is greater than a predetermined threshold, and inresponse to the noise intensity value being determined to be greaterthan the predetermined threshold, determine that the device is toperform the volume adjustment.
 23. The device according to claim 21,wherein the message processing module is further configured to extract atransmit power value of the noise control message from the noise controlmessage.
 24. The device according to claim 23, wherein the firstdetermination module comprises: a first determination sub-moduleconfigured to determine according to the noise intensity value, thetransmit power value, a current volume, and a received signal intensityof the noise control message, whether the device is to perform thevolume adjustment.
 25. The device according to claim 24, wherein thefirst determination sub-module comprises: a first unit configured toobtain a wireless signal attenuation value according to the transmitpower value and the received signal intensity; a second unit configuredto obtain a first sub-noise intensity value in the noise intensity valueaccording to the wireless signal attenuation value and the currentvolume; a third unit configured to obtain a second sub-noise intensityvalue according to the noise intensity value and the first sub-noiseintensity value; and a fourth unit configured to determine, according tothe first sub-noise intensity value and the second sub-noise intensityvalue, whether the device is to perform the volume adjustment.
 26. Thedevice according to claim 21, wherein the message processing module isfurther configured to extract noise sampling information and acorresponding sampling time from the noise control message.
 27. Thedevice according to claim 26, wherein the first determination modulecomprises: a first determination sub-module configured to determine,according to the noise intensity value, the noise sampling information,the corresponding sampling time and a current volume, whether the deviceis to perform the volume adjustment.
 28. The device according to claim27, wherein the first determination sub-module comprises: a first unitconfigured to match the noise sampling information with a sound outputrecord of the device, to determine a sounding time of the noise samplinginformation; a second unit configured to determine a distance accordingto a time difference between the corresponding sampling time and thesounding time; a third unit configured to obtain a first sub-noiseintensity value in the noise intensity value according to the distanceand the current volume; a fourth unit configured to obtain a secondsub-noise intensity value according to the noise intensity value and thefirst sub-noise intensity value; and a fifth unit configured todetermine, according to the first sub-noise intensity value and thesecond sub-noise intensity value, whether the device is to perform thevolume adjustment.
 29. The device according to claim 21, wherein themessage processing module is further configured to extract positioninformation from the noise control message.
 30. The device according toclaim 29, wherein the first determination module further comprises: afirst determination sub-module configured to determine, according to thenoise intensity value, the position information and a current volume,whether it is necessary for the device to adjust a volume.
 31. Thedevice according to claim 30, wherein the first determination sub-modulecomprises: a first unit configured to determine a distance according tothe position information; a second unit configured to obtain a firstsub-noise intensity value in the noise intensity value according to thedistance and the current volume; a third unit configured to obtain asecond sub-noise intensity value according to the noise intensity valueand the first sub-noise intensity value; and a fourth unit configured todetermine, according to the first sub-noise intensity value and thesecond sub-noise intensity value, whether the device is to perform thevolume adjustment.
 32. The device according to claim 25, wherein theadjustment module comprises: a target volume determination sub-moduleconfigured to determine a target volume according to the first sub-noiseintensity value, the second sub-noise intensity value, the currentvolume and a predetermined threshold; and an adjustment sub-moduleconfigured to adjust the volume according to the target volume.
 33. Thedevice according to claim 19, wherein the adjustment module isconfigured to adjust the volume according to a step length.
 34. Thedevice according to claim 19, wherein the adjustment module isconfigured to control the volume to be within a volume interval.
 35. Acomputer readable storage device, comprising at least one executableinstruction, which, in response to execution, causes a noise controlleddevice comprising a processor to perform operations, comprising:receiving, by the noise controlled device, a noise control message froman external device; and in response to determining, according to thenoise control message, that the device is to perform volume adjustment,adjusting the volume according to a volume adjustment policy.
 36. Anoise controlled device for wireless communications, characterized bycomprising a processor and a memory, the memory storing computerexecutable instructions, the processor being connected to the memorythrough a communication bus, and when the noise controlled deviceoperates, the processor executes the computer executable instructionsstored in the memory, so that the noise controlled device performsoperations, comprising: receiving, by the device, a noise controlmessage from an external device; determining, according to the noisecontrol message, whether the device is to facilitate a volumeadjustment; and adjusting the volume according to a volume adjustmentpolicy if the device is to facilitate the volume adjustment.